In what could be industry’s biggest consolidation in the region, the two companies announced on Monday that California-based Uber has agreed to sell its Southeast Asian business to its regional rival Grab for an undisclosed amount. File photo

“No notification has been filed at the PCC by Grab or Uber to date,” PCC Chairman Arsenio Balisacan said in a statement.

If one of the parties to merger and acquisition deals above P2 billion has P5 billion worth of value of assets, the competition watchdog must be informed about the transaction.

Should Grab and Uber meet the threshold, they should notify the PCC within 30 days after the signing of their definitive agreement, Balisacan said.

In what could be industry’s biggest consolidation in the region, the two companies announced on Monday that California-based Uber has agreed to sell its Southeast Asian business to its regional rival Grab for an undisclosed amount.

Uber, which invested $700 million in Southeast Asia, will get a 27.5 percent stake in the combined company and Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi will join Grab’s board.

Amid fears that the reduced competition would result to a price hike, Grab said fares would not change and would still be calculated on a base distance with a dynamic surcharge, traffic conditions and estimated time taken for the journey.

“I would like to reassure the government and the public that we will continue to work in a collaborative and open manner,” Grab Philippines country head Brian Cu said in a separate statement.

“We will keep our commitment towards quality of service. We will continue to adhere to regulatory guidelines on activations and pricing,” Cu added.

Before President Rodrigo Duterte left Thursday for his one-on-one with President Xi Jinping in Beijing, he promised to “invoke” the 2016 ruling of the Permanent Court of Arbitration at The Hague that resolved some maritime disputes between the two neighbors.

Eight warships, four aircraft and more than a thousand personnel from the US and ten Southeast Asian countries will join maritime drills kicking off Monday, as part of a joint exercise extending into the flashpoint South China Sea.

China has rejected as “unwelcome” the call of the United Kingdom, France and Germany on the South China Sea claimants to respect the arbitration ruling of 2016 and the rules-based framework laid out in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).